Devil's Trill
by tankbbg
Summary: What if I was to tell you that...when you all pulled me out of heaven, I left more than just my happiness...I left so much more. And that everyday, I feel like dying just to go back? Post Chosen
1. Tremble

Devil's Trill

Chapter One:

Dark brown ringlets fell in front of an angelic face as laughter filled her eyes. Eyes much like a polished piece of jade. She threw her hands in the air as she squealed in delight, the sun playing with the shadows that surrounded her face. Buffy could only smile and sigh in contentment. Something seemed terribly wrong with this picture but something also felt terribly right. The meadow was a rich green this time of year and perfect for playing in. Thick Fir trees surrounded the clearing, giving the illusion of a separate dimension. The child glanced at Buffy before running to her, collapsing in her lap. The Slayer gently pushed the girl's thick hair out of her face, smiling as she did it.

"Did you have fun, Kathy?" Buffy asked softly. The girl smiled a toothy grin before presenting Buffy with a bunch of wild flowers. The Slayer took the messy bouquet and took in their scent, a sense of peace filling her.

"Do you like them?" The girl, Kathy, asked. Buffy smiled and nodded. She picked a dandelion out of the bunch and placed it behind Kathy's ear, making her eyes show bright. Kathy mimicked Buffy's action, placing one behind her ear.

"See, now both of our eyes will show!" She smiled and hugged the Slayer's neck tightly. God, when had she gotten so strong? Buffy thought to herself as she ran her hand through the girl's hair.

The sun set slowly, oranges and yellows playing with the shadows of the surrounding meadow. Small droplets of shaded dew finally saw the light of day just before the clutches of night. A small bird flew out the surrounding trees, taking flight towards the east, where daylight would exist for a longer time, no matter how much longer. When the sun had set behind the ring of trees, Kathy sat up and got out of the circle of Buffy's arms. She watched past Buffy for something or someone. Buffy watched Kathy intently, working to memorize every line and curve of the girl's face. She saw her face change into a bright smile that would rival the stars themselves before she ran.

"Buffy…" She turned, knowing how this would play out. She knew the lines and she knew the motions, but she still wanted it.

"Buffy!" Someone's voice loudly interrupted the silence of the forest. Buffy's vision suddenly blurred and was greeted by an extremely bright light.

"Buffy! Wake up!" Dawn's voice rang, whiney and annoyed. A pillow made contact against Buffy's head.

"Wha?" She asked groggily. The pillow came down again but she grabbed and pulled it away from her assailant. Dawn "oofed" and fell on top of her sister. Buffy pushed Dawn off of her and sat up. She looked around, eyes wide. It had been a dream? Simply a dream? Dawn looked at her older sister and watched her frantically touch her arms and face. Her hands ran through her hair and she searched for something behind her ear. She pulled her fist away from her face and carefully lowered it front of her. Dawn watched as she slowly, almost painfully slow, opened her hand to reveal an empty palm. Her eyes widened and she closed them in pain, bring her hand to cover her eyes. Dawn sat up and hugged her sister.

"What?" Buffy asked. Dawn shook her head before releasing her.

"You were crying…I thought you would need a hug." Buffy brought her hand to her face and did find tears still running down her cheeks. Dawn sat on the corner of the bed and looked at her sister.

"It was just a dream, Dawnie." Buffy said, taking a deep breath.

"Wanna talk about it?" Buffy glared at her sister before looking at her clock radio.

"Don't you have school in like…" She grabbed it and looked closer. "five minutes?" Dawn grinned sheepishly.

"I was hoping that me waking you from your nightmare would equal me a day of no school!" When Buffy didn't smile back but simply raised her eyebrow, Dawn stood and glared at her sister, hands on her hips.

"Well, fine then! If waking you up from a bad dream is crime, then I'm sorry!" Buffy sighed and motioned for Dawn to come sit next to her. The hormonal teen glared but sat next to her sister with her arms crossed in front of her chest. She sat down with her back to the Slayer and huffed. Buffy shook her head and smiled softly. Had I been like that?

"Dawnie, how does skipping first sound?" Dawn whipped her head around and grinned, hugging her sister tightly. Her tight hug startled the Slayer and sent them sprawling on the ground. They giggled softly, Dawn doing most of it. Buffy sighed and shook her head.

"Up." Dawn pouted, but dutifully stood as she was asked, even though it was extremely slow. Buffy ended up having to push the girl. After crawling out from under her, she proceeded to stumble down the stairs, taking up as much room as possible, keeping her sister from getting in front of her. That earned her with many whines and "Buffy!" from the girl behind her. They giggled as the pushed each other back and forth into walls on their way into the kitchen, Buffy controlling her pushes. The girls were greeted by a groggy Rona, who merely mumbled hello, a Starbucks coffee mug in hand as she headed out the door and to school in Riverside. Dawn noticed she got a weird glance from her since they went to the same high school but all she heard was a muttered "Slayer's pet." That made Dawn smile. She was "special" today.

Buffy pushed her blonde hair away from her face, yawing. The Slayer plopped down on a stool, burying her head into her arms. She was trying to forget the dream and her sister was helping. A sudden shrill scream alerted her that some of the other slayerettes had woken up late. Willow's voice was heard amongst the riffling through closets and screaming about why their clocks hadn't woken them.

"Actually, Rona decided to get back at them for not telling her that they didn't have school and she went anyway. That's why she was so tired." Dawn commentated lightly. Buffy raised an eyebrow.

"You were obviously in on this?" Dawn shrugged with a sly smile, pouring herself a glass of orange juice. When only a dribble came out she screamed in frustration.

"Dammit! Why would you put an empty carton back in the fridge!" She screamed up at the frantic girls. The sisters heard a couple of "Shut up, Dawn."s and "It wasn't me." Buffy shook her head as she watched the potentials, well not potentials anymore, stream down the stairs and run into the kitchen, throwing open cabinets and grabbing the first edible thing. Kennedy rushed into the kitchen, her jacket falling off her shoulders as she grabbed a granola bar before screaming for everyone to get their butts going. She nodded in greeting to Buffy before racing out the door. Things had never been good between them and the whole lets-kick-Buffy-out-of-the-house thing made their relationship worse, but they were trying.

Buffy sighed, pressing her hand to her head. Dawn raised an eyebrow.

"You ok?" Buffy jerked awake, wiping the silken moisture on her cheeks.

"Yeah, Dawnie. Um, what do you want for breakfast?" Dawn thought about her small collection of options. Her sister could always "make" cereal. But before she could answer, Buffy was already pulling out a skillet and eggs.

"How does an omelet sound, hmm?" Dawn stared at the Slayer in shock. Since when could her sister cook? With a skillet no less? With out waiting for an answer, Buffy proceeded to crack a couple eggs into a separate bowl, adding various food stuffs.

"Alright, who are you and what have you done with my sister?" While it had been meant to make a smile appear on her sister's face, it seemed to make the Slayer fall back within herself, her expression becoming vacant.

"Dawn, is Buffy…_cooking?_" Willow asked as she descended down the stairs, one hand brushing her vermillion colored hair and the other straightening out her clothes. Dawn nodded at the witch with the exact same expression before turning to stare in wonderment at the real life miracle happening in front of her. Buffy rolled her eyes as she poured the egg batter into the skillet, hearing the soft sizzle of egg and hot oil.

"Oh come on! You guys act like I've never cooked before." She cried out in mock hurt. Dawn stared dumbly as she plopped down onto a stool, Willow almost faring no better.

"Buffy, sweetie, last time we tried this, a couple of the slayerette's got food poisoning. Do you want Dawnie to be sick then have to _deal _with her when she can't go to school?" Willow reasoned, sincerely concerned for the teen's health. Buffy threw the Wicca a look while beating the egg.

"Will, that was like seven months ago. I have learned how to cook!" The sound of sizzling egg filled the kitchen as she poured the egg into the hot skillet. Dawn and Willow were silenced as the watched her perform miracles. Turning, mixing, gently prodding, and then flipping flawlessly. They couldn't have been more stunned if she had conjured a dragon out of thin air before expertly filleting it.

Willow gently nudged Dawn, being as discreet as possible. "Don't look now, but we're looking at an actual miracle." Dawn snickered, oblivious to her supernatural, butt-kicking, slayer of a sister's glare. Suddenly a wooden spoon appeared between the two girls, wagging up and down angrily.

"Hey, hey, hey! Don't bite that hand that feeds you, little girl!" Her glare instantly turned to amusement as Dawn looked horrified at the plate now place in front of her. Whilst talking with her red head of a friend, she hadn't noticed the perfect, golden omelet waiting for her. Gingerly lifting her fork, Dawn poked at the seemingly "alien" thing. Willow stared in the same wonderment. Not being able to take it, Buffy sighed in frustration.

"Come on guys! It's not like it's the first omelet I've _ever_ made!"

"The first _edible_ one." Willow snickered, tearing a small piece to pop into her mouth. Dawn quickly followed suit, using a fork to direct a daintily small piece into her own mouth. They were both pleasantly surprised with its rich taste rather than its usual…unique _charbroiled_ flavor.

"Wow, Buffy, this tastes awesome!" Dawn praised, quickly cutting the flaky goodness into more bite-size pieces before plopping them into her mouth. Willow discreetly stole pieces away from the girl's plate, smirking at Buffy. The slayer simply smiled, shaking her head before washing the plate.

"Buffy, aren't you going to make one for yourself?" Dawn spluttered through of mouthful of egg. Buffy stopped, contemplating this and placed the skillet back on the burner.

"I guess I will, but wait—What's today?"

Willow glanced over at the refrigerator. "Friday, March seventh. Why?"

The glass mixing bowl that Buffy had been holding fell to the floor, shattering into a million pieces. Her eyes went wide, her hand resting against her now frantically beating heart. Willow rushed to her friend's side, Dawn standing and looking over the counter.

"Buffy, are you okay? Buffy?" Willow asked panicky, shaking her. Green eyes stared at the calendar, slightly out of focus. Suddenly, as if woken from a trance, her eyes contracting to their original shape and she shook her head.

"What? I'm fine. Sorry, I just forgot I have to—that I had to pick something up for Giles today. It's at the post office. Well, I better go get changed if I'm going to go pick it up. Bye." She quickly disappeared up the stairs, pushing a few slayerettes out of her way. Willow and Dawn stared at each other before they both looked back at the calendar.

Buffy didn't stop running until she had slammed the door to the bathroom in her room. She caught her breath, one pale hand against her throat. Slowly she felt herself slipping down to the tiled floor. So that's why she had had the dream…Oh God, she had to go…She had gotten so busy she hadn't noticed. _But I need to…_ With a made up mind, she bravely stepped out from the bathroom, grabbed her cell phone and then scuttled back in. Holding down the number two, it quickly speed-dialed the person she needed to talk to. She would have made it one, but that went to voicemail.

"Buffy?" That one word answer help her be strong. She knew she had to be. After all, she _would _ have to leave afterwards.

"So, tonight right?"

"Yes, same place?"

"For pick up? Yeah, 'round seven, kay?"

"Yeah." There was silence for a moment before the other person spoke.

"Buffy, I'll--"

"I'll see you at seven. Bye." She quickly hung up the phone. She glanced at the time she had spent on the conversation. Almost exactly one minute. These private calls were getter shorter and harder every time.

Dawn watched silently out her window at the moon, carefully perched on the sill but within the shadow of the tree. She heard the front door open. She watched as her sister walked out the front door, calling back a perky "Bye guys! Be back tomorrow!" and set out onto the sidewalk. Why wasn't she driving? Stealthily, Dawn shimmied down the tree to follow her sister. She tracked her until the stop sign three blocks away.

Buffy looked around before getting into a black Plymouth. The car sat for a while before being turned on and turning right. With a quick glance, Buffy noticed a small shadow looming just beyond the street light but she chose to ignore it. She had more important places to be than here.

Please review guys! Thanks, let me know what you think!


	2. Vibrato

Devil's Trill

Chapter 2:

The silence that seemed to stretch for the long miles was as thick as the tension present in the car. Buffy huddled against the door, wrapping her arms around herself. She refused to look at the other occupant of the car, instead settling for staring at the passing highway. At eight o'clock, there wasn't too much traffic. Gentle music played in the background, the only thing disrupting the silence. It was a familiar tune, soft with melodic guitar and mellow voices.

_Childhood living is easy to do  
The things you wanted I bought them for you  
Graceless lady you know who I am  
You know I can't let you slide through my hands  
Wild horses, couldn't drag me away  
Wild wild horses couldn't drag me away _

The slayer's breath caught in her throat none to subtle. The driver glanced over at her, his superior hearing catching everything including the song. Her green eyes looked over at him before retuning back to their original gaze. Her fingers itched to turn off the offensive song, to end her torture but she forced herself to pretend she didn't care. After all, how many awkward rides had she spent like this in the past year?

_I watched you suffer a dull aching pain  
Now you decided to show me the same  
No sweeping exits or off stage lines  
Could make me feel bitter or treat you unkind  
Wild horses, couldn't drag me away  
Wild wild horses couldn't drag me away _

Not being able to take it anymore, Buffy used her slayer speed to change the familiar song. In a flurry of unrecognizable static, the dial stopped on a Spanish station. Sighing in frustration, she slammed her hand against the dial, silencing the offensive contraption.

"Buffy--"

"Angel, please. I'm trying to be strong right now and I'm not doing too good a job of it." The vampire glanced at her, worry apparent on his face. He sighed, shaking his head and staring back at the road.

"I know Buffy. I know. It's getting harder every time."

"I wish we wouldn't have to leave her every time." Without even looking away from the road, Angel's hand shot out and took the slayer's into his. He gently lifted it to his lips and placed a gossamer kiss on the golden skin.

"I know, but what choice do we have?"

"Will, were does Buffy go every month? I mean, seriously, there have been times that she doesn't show up until Sunday morning even though she says she'll be back _Saturday_ morning." Willow looked up at the teen from the Wicca book.

"I don't know, Dawnie. I just figure that Buffy needs her space and I don't bug her about it…too often. Last time I asked, I nearly got my head torn off literally." Dawn looked skeptical. "Sure Will and the Watcher's Council have standardized pink tutus as their uniform." Willow looked around the empty kitchen before closing her Council work and plopping down next to Dawn.

"No, I'm being totally serious. Total seriousness here. I asked her why she left _every_ month on the same day and she looked at me with tears in her eyes. And then her hands went up to like choke me, but she slammed them into the doorframe instead. Yeah, after that I just don't ask." Dawn stared at the Wicca, eyes wide; her sister almost strangled her best friend for asking a question? Good thing she hadn't tried to follow her sister.

Buffy leaned against the car, her arms firmly crossed over her chest. Angel stood at her side, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. Silence draped over the couple like a blanket, so thick it was almost suffocating. The cool night air created little clouds every time the slayer took a breath, a lingering constant reminder to the fact that the man next to her had not created a wisp.

Headlights shone from a distance, breaking the silence between the vampire and the Slayer. Anticipation bled through the air, the petite blonde hugging herself to keep from running. Angel stepped closer to her, wrapping a strong arm around her shoulders and pulled her to him. She smiled, a true happy smile, before she turned her sea green gaze eagerly to the parking car. A gold nondescript Toyota Camry reached a slow stop, but before the car was even turned off, the back door was thrown open. The night hid her face as a little girl with brown ringlets disentangled herself from her seat belt and practically threw herself out the door.

"Kathy!" Buffy cried out, running towards the child. The girl pushed herself quickly towards the slayer, dropping her pink Beauty and Beast backpack, her lilac and white shoes lighting up every time she took a step. Falling to her knees, Buffy opened her arms and quickly felt a sensation she loved more than anything; the feeling of her daughter's arms wrapped around her.

"Mama! I missed you so much." Voice muffled by her mother's neck, Kathy simply hugged tighter. When she looked up she saw her father heading towards them. She smiled, knowing better than trying to get out of her mother's hold when she was like this. With a smile, the vampire kneeled, kissing her on the forehead.

"Hello Kathy." Kathy smiled and tried to wiggle her way out from her mother's hold. A gentle hand that belonged to her father stopped her squirming before it helped her mother stand. Simply content, Kathy hugged her mother and watched her father walk towards the other two former occupants of the car.

Extending his hand to the man, Angel smiled. "Frank, Jane. It's good to see you again." The woman smiled her short brown hair bobbing as she nodded. Thinking better, she moved closer to him, giving him a small hug. Angel hugged her back. In his peripheral vision he noticed that Buffy had finally released her death hold on their daughter and had retrieved her fallen backpack. Hand in hand, the mother and daughter quickly joined the rest.

"Go tell your dad hi." Needing no more than those words, Kathy launched herself into her father's arms. "Daddy!" She cried out, getting into a similar position as she had been with her mother. Buffy quickly greeted Frank and Jane, commenting on Frank's new acquisition of glasses and Jane's new haircut.

She returned to Angel and Kathy, pressing one slim hand to the child's back. Angel was whispering something in Gaelic to their daughter and miraculously the girl was answering back in the same language. That was one trait that the girl had picked up long before she could read. Buffy could only smile. They were reunited with their daughter again, even if only for a night, and all was well. There was no demon to defeat, no great evil to destroy, no looming apocalypse waiting just around the corner. For once, it was Buffy, Angel, and Kathy. All in the world was right.

"I hear you've been practicing for you recital next month, Kathy." Buffy commented, kissing the girl's forehead. Kathy nodded profusely, but Jane spoke. "Are you kidding me? We can't get that girl to put down that violin." Buffy giggled at the same time as Kathy, a mischievous gleam in their lovat colored eyes. Angel shook his head and deposited the girl in Buffy's arms.

"Kathy, sweetheart, why don't you show your mommy your class work?" Frank suggested. Instantly Kathy grabbed her mother's hand, dragging her to the swing set where she waited patiently as her slayer of a mother sat and the proceeded to plop down in her lap. She practically tore open the backpack and pulled out high scored math tests and lined pages of cursive writing.

"You know, she just wouldn't stop talking about how she wanted to show you guys her work."

"Frank, I can't thank you enough for this small miracle for Buffy and I." Jane smiled, placing a hand on her husband's arm.

"Angel, we love Kathy to death. She is the sweetest thing since ice cream and we know how much this means to _her._ She loves you two. All she ever talks about is how she wants to grow up strong like her mommy and smart like her daddy." Angel smiled again, finding it was something that he did often when in the presence of his bubbly daughter. It was like the great burden of his guilt left him for that short moment and that his amends had made a difference. A surge of pride shot through him at the thought that his daughter wanted to be like him.

"So, how is Alyssa? No fights?" He asked cautiously. The girls didn't get along _all _too well, do to the fact that they were like sisters. Jane laughed.

"Oh, she's fine. Still the same old firecracker you know. And no, no more fights between the two. She's actually at the babysitter's right now. We're going to drop Kathy there afterwards."

"Babysitter?"

"Jane and I have to leave on a business trip tonight. It's just like to company to book a redeye flight, you know. But we didn't want to bug Jane's parents with watching them, so we were sending to girls to a babysitter."

Angel mulled this over, his expression darkening. "Is this girl a certified Red-Cross babysitter? Does she know what to do in an emergency? How old is she? She is a girl right?" Jane and Frank laughed at Angel's concerned inquisition, the former clutching her stomach.

"Yes, yes, 22, and yes she is a girl, Angel. We've been sending the girls with her for awhile."

"What's this I'm hearing about a 22 year old girl? Plotting something love?" Buffy's voice broke into the conversation, her hand tightly grasped in the second grader's. Kathy tugged on the aforementioned hand, effectively bringing the attention to her.

"That's just Jenny. She watches me and Alyssa sometimes when Frank and Jane go places. She's cool! She lets me watch Kim Possible and Spongebob, Mommy." Buffy mock frowned.

"I'm not sure I like the sound of this "Jenny". I mean she lets you watch shows your Aunt Dawnie watches…and we all know how she turned out." The adults shared a laugh, while Kathy looked around confused. But when she caught Jane's gaze, her expression became determined. She pulled her hand from her mother's grasp and stood next to her adoptive parents. A rush a panic flowed into the slayer's veins and turned to Angel. He had a similar expression, though much more collected.

"Buffy, Angel, we have a proposition for you. Go ahead sweetheart." Frank pulled out his keys and hand them to the child. Kathy scurried back into the car, pulling something from out of the open truck after she fumbled unlocking it.

"We have to be leaving for the airport soon and know the timing is unfair to you both. Also, I understand that you are not too comfortable with the fact that Kathy will be staying with a babysitter. So Frank and I though, why don't you guys watch her for the weekend?"

Time itself seemed to stop as both vampire and slayer stared in complete and utter shock. Such a proposition…it was not only random but dangerous. A beeping interrupted the shock fest as Kathy locked the car and rushed forward. She dropped her suitcase noisily and set her violin case gentler on the ground.

"Can I? I promise I'll be real good and not make a mess. I won't make you watch Kim Possible with me either." She stared up at her parents with such yearning and hope that it broke their hearts. Wordlessly, they both nodded. She squealed in joy and launched herself into her mother's arms. Tears crept down Buffy's cheeks as she stared up the sky, willing herself to stop crying but finding the more she tried the more she did. A foreign tightness developed in the back of her throat she ran a hand through her daughter's chestnut locks.

Angel wrapped his arms around the two, not able to control his own emotions as his eyes became blurry. Frank and Jane smiled gently before they waved goodbye. Angel nodded back, noticing that both his daughter and Buffy were too oblivious to care at the moment. The foster parents of Kathy quietly returned to their car, started it, and pulled back into the night.

Please review. I just love getting them and hearing what you guys think about my story. So anyway, there you go. You have finally met seven year old Kathy. Up next: The ride home…but which home? Also, the mystery about Kathy…


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